Preschooler - any child as young as newborn up until grade 1 when they officially become a "schooler"
At this stage a significant amount of their learning should come from their natural desire to explore the world and imitate the adults in it.
Very young children can and do learn to sign well before they learn to talk therefor you should teach your child the basic signs here is a nice printable sheet you can use to get you started. http://www.signwithme.com/images/SWM_cheat_sheet.jpg
Make sure Grandparents and other caregivers also have a copy.
Preschoolers should focus primarily on their motor skills both fine and gross.
Here is a list of Gross Motor activities you can do with your child.
Beads are a great way to practice both fine motor skills and math skills.
Here are three great bead recipes.
If you need Ideas to use with your preschooler try some of these: http://homeschooling.about.com/od/preschool/Preschool_Resources.htm from About.com has a brief list of activities that will be both fun and educational. http://www.senteacher.org/Print/ Sen Teacher has some nice emotion cards that will be good to practice with your baby. or you can practice with your own face. Did you know your baby will mimic your face and emotion? Can your baby wink? Can they roll their tongue? What sounds does your baby make? Can they match sounds you make? Copying each other is the beginning of communication.
Reading a story a day from a good Bible Story book will help your child to develop a love for reading. Later you can add stories of fiction and history. A child who is read to in infancy is a child who loves reading.
Literature Based Units for Grade PreK-4 is a really Nice place to get teaching Ideas. The Most recent unit I am working on there is Beatrix Potter. Pretty soon there will be a bunch of Copy work books and even some math Flash cards.
My children Loved songs and poems they learned many things just because it was a song! http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems.html is full of educational songs and poems your child can learn.
Another site filled with fun stories to read and tools to learn with is http://www.kizclub.com/ it has beautiful printables.
I also liked http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/ it has many activities that are related to most of the themes typically taught in preschool. http://www.preschoolexpress.com/ includes a schedule and activities for preschoolers.
For Preschoolers that spend a lot of time in the car you might be interested in adding Lit to Go for Kindergarteners
When you get ready Check the Blog for First grade! Some of the concepts can be added as soon as your child is ready. Don't wait until they are ready in all areas! At times my kids were in second grade in one subject and nineth in another so be flexible and tet your child learn at their pace not yours or another arbitrary outline.
At this stage a significant amount of their learning should come from their natural desire to explore the world and imitate the adults in it.
Very young children can and do learn to sign well before they learn to talk therefor you should teach your child the basic signs here is a nice printable sheet you can use to get you started.
http://www.signwithme.com/images/SWM_cheat_sheet.jpg
Make sure Grandparents and other caregivers also have a copy.
Preschoolers should focus primarily on their motor skills both fine and gross.
Here is a list of Gross Motor activities you can do with your child.
Beads are a great way to practice both fine motor skills and math skills.
Here are three great bead recipes.
If you need Ideas to use with your preschooler try some of these:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/preschool/Preschool_Resources.htm from About.com has a brief list of activities that will be both fun and educational.
http://www.senteacher.org/Print/ Sen Teacher has some nice emotion cards that will be good to practice with your baby. or you can practice with your own face. Did you know your baby will mimic your face and emotion? Can your baby wink? Can they roll their tongue? What sounds does your baby make? Can they match sounds you make? Copying each other is the beginning of communication.
Reading a story a day from a good Bible Story book will help your child to develop a love for reading. Later you can add stories of fiction and history. A child who is read to in infancy is a child who loves reading.
Literature Based Units for Grade PreK-4 is a really Nice place to get teaching Ideas. The Most recent unit I am working on there is Beatrix Potter. Pretty soon there will be a bunch of Copy work books and even some math Flash cards.
Everyday Childcare land offers a new worksheet. When your baby is about two you can start with this one sheet a day and work through their themes http://www.childcareland.com/learningsheets.html
As they come to enjoy your learning time you might try adding in the art projects
http://www.childcareland.com/artproject.html
Weekly they also have a game that you can add as their attention span grows.
http://www.earlychildhoodprintables.com/free.html
They also have games from time to time that might fit the theme and offer other fun games to add to your learning time.
http://www.childcareland.com/free.html
You might wonder what your Preschooler should know.
Worldbook has a list!
http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum/preschool is for Preschoolers
http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum/kindergarten is for Kindergarten
There is another list if you go to the library look for a books called "What Your Preschooler Should Know" and "What your Kindergartner Should Know"
Online I have found units that go with these books. http://www.ckcolorado.org/unitsassess.asp
I have also found Lesson Plans that teach to those books as well.
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/resrcs/lessons/index.htm
Crayola http://www.crayola.com/educators/index.cfm?mt=Tab_educators offers plenty of coloring pages and learning pages you and your child will enjoy.
My children Loved songs and poems they learned many things just because it was a song!
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems.html is full of educational songs and poems your child can learn.
Another site filled with fun stories to read and tools to learn with is http://www.kizclub.com/ it has beautiful printables.
I also liked http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/ it has many activities that are related to most of the themes typically taught in preschool.
http://www.preschoolexpress.com/ includes a schedule and activities for preschoolers.
For Preschoolers that spend a lot of time in the car you might be interested in adding Lit to Go for Kindergarteners
When you get ready Check the Blog for First grade! Some of the concepts can be added as soon as your child is ready. Don't wait until they are ready in all areas! At times my kids were in second grade in one subject and nineth in another so be flexible and tet your child learn at their pace not yours or another arbitrary outline.
A nice place for math worksheets is Steck Vaughn Early Math